Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish-Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat will start talks on September 3. These will be mediated by Alexander Downer, the new United Nations special envoy to Cyprus and former Foreign Minister of Australia.
The talks will need to address difficult issues, such as the Turkish military occupation in North of Cyprus. The return of confiscated properties in occupied lands to their owners also constitutes a significant challenge.
According to press reports in which UN sources are quoted, the future agreement would have to be approved in separate referendums on both sides of the island.
A previous peace plan designed by the UN under former president Tassos Papadopoulos' mandate, had been rejected by Greek Cypriots in a 2004 referendum, blocking the peace talks for four years. Turkish Cypriots had accepted it.
In the meantime Christofias outlined the structure of a reunified Cyprus. In a speech at the tourist resort of Paphos, he said Cyprus would become a federal state with a rotating presidency and a small inner cabinet to handle European Union affairs.
